A release announced, “Science News, the weekly magazine of the Society for Science & the Public, has named Judy Lewis its new advertising manager. The announcement was made by Elizabeth Marincola, president and publisher of Science News.”

An AARP release announced, “AARP, the largest membership organization for people 50+, today announced that renowned travel expert Peter Greenberg has signed on to become AARP’s new travel editor at large.”

We’ve been asked a few Politico-related questions lately, so here are the answers: Although their chats have basically disappeared lately, the have not been permanently cancelled and may resume some day in the future. As for why some of the columns have disappeared from the home page as a result of the redesign, it’s not because they’re cancelled but rather they’ve been moved to different parts of the website because they aren’t updated as frequently.

The Pew Weekly News Interest Index shows, “On the eve of Barack Obama’s major speech on race and politics, most Americans said they had heard at least a little about the videos showing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright making racially-charged statements to his Chicago congregation. At the time of the survey, however, there was greater public awareness of other recent campaign events. More Americans said they had heard a lot about Geraldine Ferraro’s statements asserting that Obamaâ€™s race has been a major advantage in his campaign than had heard about videos of Wright preaching to his congregation.”

The Wall Street Journal reports, “As newspapers across America shrink in readership, page count and format, the price of the paper they are printed on has been rising, piling yet another worry onto the industry.”

Reuters reports, “Several top U.S. newspaper publishers said on Thursday they will devote online advertising space to a new network that wants to make it easier to place ads on hundreds of newspapers’ Web sites at a time.”

Reuters reports, “Media General Inc urged shareholders on Wednesday to reject board candidates proposed by dissident investor Harbinger Capital Partners, saying the nominees are not good enough to guide the newspaper and television company.”

The Washington Independent reports, “How Two Leading Journalists Played the Public to Help Bush Sell His War”

An ABC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research for Sunday, March 16, 2008, ABC News’ ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos’ outperformed CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ among both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. This is the 15th time this season ‘This Week’ beat ‘Face’ in Total Viewers and the 13th time beating CBS among the key Adults 25-54 demo”

An NBC release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research data, ‘Meet the Press with Tim Russert’ was the most-watched Sunday morning public affairs program, winning the week ending Sunday, March 16, 2008 in all categories. On Sunday, the Russert-moderated program was No. 1, averaging 4.218 million total viewers”

A NBC release announced, “NBC News Middle East Correspondent and
Beirut Bureau Chief Richard Engel has been named the 2007 winner of the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism. Engel was chosen for this outstanding work in MSNBC’s ‘War Zone Diary.’ The one-hour documentary, which was compiled from Engel’s video diary, gives a rare and intimate account of the everyday realties of covering the war in Iraq.”

Portfolio reports, “The commission schedules a second public hearing on network neutrality after a cable company stacked the first one.”

An ABC release announced, “ABC News, the National Constitution Center and WPVI-TV will host a Democratic Presidential Candidate debate in Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 16th. The live 90-minute debate, moderated by ABC News anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, will air from 8-10 PM ET/PT on the ABC Television Network. The debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The format of the debate and information about media credentialing will be announced at a later date.”

The Huffington Post reports, “During Barack Obama’s media blitz last Friday, in which he started here on the Huffington Post and continued to hit the three cable news stations, he spoke with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann about the controversial statements of his former paster, Jeremiah Wright. Last night, David Letterman presented the ‘Barack Obama ‘Uh’ Count,’ in which they parsed his appearance with Olbermann and counted the verbal pauses of the candidate often praised for his eloquence.” Watch it here.

AdAge.com reports, “Broadcast-network TV’s place in the media landscape is changing, acknowledged NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker this morning, and as such, consumers can probably expect less scripted fare, but more shows aimed at reaching broad swaths of audience.”

MarketWatch reports, “NBC Universal plans to sell owned-and-operated television stations in Miami and Hartford, Conn. to place more emphasis on its outlets in the top 10 U.S. markets, according to an internal memo sent to employees Wednesday.”

Bloomberg reports, “The Sundance Channel, the cable network built around Robert Redford’s annual film festival, is for sale and Cablevision Systems Corp. may be the eventual buyer, according to Pali Research.”

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Confusion surrounded the buyout of Clear Channel Communications Inc. yesterday amid escalating tensions between the private-equity companies behind the deal and the banks that have agreed to finance it. As a key deadline approached, it was unclear whether the deal would close, some 16 months after it was announced. These doubts prompted a nearly 9% drop in Clear Channel’s shares to $32.60, below the $39.20 per share Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital LLC agreed to pay for the company in May, suggesting the market is betting the transaction won’t close. If the deal isn’t completed by the end of a so-called marketing period, which ends next week, Clear Channel could turn to the courts to force the private-equity concerns and the banks to finish the deal.”

TVNewser reports, “Okay, rule #1 for cable news anchors, don’t talk to the press, even blogs, especially blogs, unless your boss or PR knows about it. Or, if you’re gonna do it, don’t use your name! FNC’s Ainsley Earhardt learned that the hard way. We hear she was given a talking to this morning after she talked to a blogger, on more than one occasion, about her fill-in gig on Fox & Friends Weekend. A TVNewser reader tipped us off to the existence of the blog Carpe Diem late yesterday.”

A reader tells us, “Marvin Kalb, still very much alive, was the last network news hire of Edward R. Murrow. (At least so he said at one of his Newseum sit-downs).”

Hotline’s On Call reports, “ABC News sent out its official announcement for the 4/16 Dem debate in Philly. However, 4/16 has another meaning for a lot of Washingtonians — it’s the night of the annual Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner. The dinner is considered the secondest biggest event of the Washington ‘prom season’ — right after the White House Correspondents Dinner — and typically features all the big-name DC media types. An ABC spokesperson said that date was chosen because it was the night that worked in the candidates’ schedules. No word yet on how much of ABC presence there will be at the dinner. George Stephanopoulos is listed as co-moderator of the debate, along with Charles Gibson.”

The Economist reports, “Social networking will become a ubiquitous feature of online life. That does not mean it is a business”

Venture Beat reports, “Online ad network Federated Media, which serves Web sites like VentureBeat and hundreds of others with ads it gets from large companies, is close to raising a $30 million round at a $200 million pre-money valuation, according to a well-placed source.”

DCist reports, “The literary Web site Hitotoki (pronounced hee toe toe key) is looking to launch a D.C. edition, but the editorial staff is facing a small problem — they need content. … If you’re interested in writing for Hitotoki, download a submission form or check out the site’s temporary D.C. page. Stories should be 200-500 words long, focus on a single moment in a specific place and authored by someone who either lives in or has visited the city.”

The Press Gazette reports, “The Financial Times is to give its FT Wealth supplement an upmarket relaunch to target the interests of the ‘very wealthy’ global citizens. Published quarterly, the tabloid will now appear as a magazine in a ‘unique’ format.”

Jezebel reports, “Remember Bush Administration spokespretty Dana Perino and that tough time she had remembering just what the Cuban missile crisis was? Well the other day she had another little missile crisis on Fox News Sunday, which is to say, she explained, she doesn’t really know what a missile is sorta, because, um, totes, kthanxbai, she was born a girl.”